Shimla,Feb 23
Himachal Pradesh secured second position in the category of North Eastern and hilly States of the country in implementation of urban employment scheme which helped the workers in the towns to get the guaranteed employment on the analogy of MNREGA in the rural areas during the Covid pandemic, this was stated by the Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajinder Vishvanath Arelekr during the Guv Address in the state assembly on Wednesday.
” In view of the present scenario of COVID-19 pandemic, State Government has accorded priority to the livelihood security of labourers in urban areas as Jai Ram Thakur government launched urban livelihood mission and similar scheme for providing Guaranteed wage employment of 120 days to the labourers in urban areas.” He said that under “Mukhya Mantri Shahri Ajiveeka Guarantee Yojana’ in the current financial year, 1,01,830 mandays have been created and an amount of Rupees 3.05 crore has been spent. He
also said that under PM Svanidhi Yojna’ has been started with the objective to serve livelihood of street vendors in urban areas. Under this scheme, 3,663 applications have been approved and loan amounting to Rupees 3.64 crore has been disbursed to 3,436 beneficiaries.
Guv also said that Government wants speedy development of urban areas as working capital grant of Rupees one Cr each has been provided to three upgraded Municipal Corporations and Rs 10 lakh each to newly formed Nagar Panchayats and Municipal Councils.
He said that to make urban bodies clean and pollution free, sewage treatment plants at Ashwini Khad and Tutu, cal sludge treatment plants at Lalpani are being constructed and plants situated at Malyana, Dhali and Lalpani are being up-graded. So far, an amount of Rupees 92.19 crore has been provided for their construction and up-gradation. He said that to develop the rural areas of the State, government is determined to strengthen the basic infrastructure of urban local bodies and making them capable to discharge their responsibilities.
The Guv address mentioned that towards simplification, Town and Country Planning Rules have been amended, whereby provisions have been made for relaxation in set-back, height of floors and building etc. in the construction of private buildings.
He said that ownership rights were being granted to possession holders in every village (abadi or abadi deh) in the revenue record and issuing property cards as ‘Swamitva Yojana’ is being implemented. Ownership would be granted by 44 benefiting 15,495 abadi deh or villages of the State. To fulfil this objective, amendment has been carried out in the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act. Under this scheme, work in Hamirpur district is underway on pilot basis with the help of Drones and this scheme is targeted to be implemented within one year in all the districts.
In the difficult situation of Corona pandemic, for providing timely bus facilities to the common citizens, the State Government has provided additionality amounting to Rupees 223 crore as grant-in-aid to Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation.
The Government has been plying buses on 285 additional routes till December in public interest. 370 bus routes have been extended or changed, due to which about 42,594 additional kilometers are being covered daily by these buses. In addition, 205 new buses are also being purchased. Government also started the Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarojgar (Parivahan) Yojana’ for employment generation and to provide quality and comfortable services to the people.
The State Government is playing a leading role in realizing the dream of providing water to every household under the ambitious scheme Jal Jeevan Mission’ being run by the Central Government. Under this scheme, of total įno 17,28,000 families, 15,89,000 families have been provided with the facility of domestic tap connection. In the current financial year, under this scheme, the central government has allocated an amount of Rupees 1262.68 crore. Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in the entire country to receive fourth tranche. It is noteworthy that in the last 2 years, about 8,35,000 tap connections have been installed as compared to 7,63,000 tap connections in last 72 years in the State. In addition, 58 laboratories have been set up in the state to ensure the quality of safe drinking water. Out of these, 37 laboratories are accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). In order to ensure better water supply facility in rural areas, State Government has got approval from the New Development Bank for funding a project of 24 schemes, costing Runees 740 crore.
